HSK 4 vocabulary — about 120 words — covers abstract topics: society, relationships, opinions, education, health. At this level you can read simple news, express your views on familiar topics, and handle most daily situations in China without relying on English. The sentence structures become more varied, and many words have multiple meanings depending on context.
Grammar You'll Use at This Level
被 passive
我的手机被偷了。→ My phone was stolen.
Chinese passive often implies something unfortunate. Unlike English, where passive is neutral, 被 usually signals bad news.
连...都/也
他连饭都没吃就走了。→ He left without even eating.
Means 'even.' Puts extreme emphasis on what follows 连. Great for dramatic effect in storytelling.
不仅...而且
他不仅会说中文，而且会写。→ He not only speaks Chinese but also writes it.
The Chinese 'not only... but also.' 不仅 comes first, 而且 introduces the escalation.
⚠️ Easily Confused at This Level
以为 (yǐwéi) vs. 认为 (rènwéi)
以为 means 'I thought (but I was wrong).' 认为 means 'I think (my opinion).' 我以为你是老师 means I thought you were a teacher but you're not. 我认为你是老师 means in my opinion, you're a teacher.
突然 (tūrán) vs. 忽然 (hūrán)
Both mean 'suddenly' but 突然 can also be an adjective (一个突然的消息 = a sudden piece of news). 忽然 is only an adverb. In most sentences they're interchangeable.
| # | Character | Pinyin | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 安全 | ānquán | |
| 2 | 按照 | ànzhào | |
| 3 | 百分之 | bǎifēnzhī | |
| 4 | 倍 | bèi | |
| 5 | 本来 | běnlái | |
| 6 | 毕业 | bìyè | |
| 7 | 标准 | biāozhǔn | |
| 8 | 表格 | biǎogé | |
| 9 | 表示 | biǎoshì | |
| 10 | 表演 | biǎoyǎn | |
| 11 | 并且 | bìngqiě | |
| 12 | 部分 | bùfen | |
| 13 | 擦 | cā | |
| 14 | 猜 | cāi | |
| 15 | 材料 | cáiliào | |
| 16 | 尝 | cháng | |
| 17 | 成功 | chénggōng | |
| 18 | 成为 | chéngwéi | |
| 19 | 诚实 | chéngshí | |
| 20 | 抽烟 | chōuyān | |
| 21 | 出差 | chūchāi | |
| 22 | 窗户 | chuānghu | |
| 23 | 从来 | cónglái | |
| 24 | 大使馆 | dàshǐguǎn | |
| 25 | 大约 | dàyuē | |
| 26 | 代表 | dàibiǎo | |
| 27 | 当 | dāng | |
| 28 | 道歉 | dàoqiàn | |
| 29 | 得 | děi | |
| 30 | 地球 | dìqiú | |
| 31 | 调查 | diàochá | |
| 32 | 对话 | duìhuà | |
| 33 | 儿童 | értóng | |
| 34 | 法律 | fǎlǜ | |
| 35 | 访问 | fǎngwèn | |
| 36 | 丰富 | fēngfù | |
| 37 | 否则 | fǒuzé | |
| 38 | 负责 | fùzé | |
| 39 | 改变 | gǎibiàn | |
| 40 | 感觉 | gǎnjué | |
| 41 | 感谢 | gǎnxiè | |
| 42 | 共同 | gòngtóng | |
| 43 | 购物 | gòuwù | |
| 44 | 鼓励 | gǔlì | |
| 45 | 观众 | guānzhòng | |
| 46 | 管理 | guǎnlǐ | |
| 47 | 好像 | hǎoxiàng | |
| 48 | 后悔 | hòuhuǐ | |
| 49 | 发展 | fāzhǎn | |
| 50 | 反对 | fǎnduì | |
| 51 | 复印 | fùyìn | |
| 52 | 感情 | gǎnqíng | |
| 53 | 公里 | gōnglǐ | |
| 54 | 估计 | gūjì | |
| 55 | 关键 | guānjiàn | |
| 56 | 国王 | guówáng | |
| 57 | 海洋 | hǎiyáng | |
| 58 | 互联网 | hùliánwǎng | |
| 59 | 加班 | jiābān | |
| 60 | 加油站 | jiāyóuzhàn | |
| 61 | 家具 | jiājù | |
| 62 | 坚持 | jiānchí | |
| 63 | 将来 | jiānglái | |
| 64 | 结果 | jiéguǒ | |
| 65 | 解释 | jiěshì | |
| 66 | 紧张 | jǐnzhāng | |
| 67 | 禁止 | jìnzhǐ | |
| 68 | 经验 | jīngyàn | |
| 69 | 镜子 | jìngzi | |
| 70 | 举办 | jǔbàn | |
| 71 | 拒绝 | jùjué | |
| 72 | 考虑 | kǎolǜ | |
| 73 | 可惜 | kěxī | |
| 74 | 客厅 | kètīng | |
| 75 | 困难 | kùnnán | |
| 76 | 浪费 | làngfèi | |
| 77 | 浪漫 | làngmàn | |
| 78 | 离婚 | líhūn | |
| 79 | 理发 | lǐfà | |
| 80 | 另外 | lìngwài | |
| 81 | 落 | luò | |
| 82 | 毛巾 | máojīn | |
| 83 | 矛盾 | máodùn | |
| 84 | 免费 | miǎnfèi | |
| 85 | 目的 | mùdì | |
| 86 | 难道 | nándào | |
| 87 | 能力 | nénglì | |
| 88 | 偶尔 | ǒu'ěr | |
| 89 | 批评 | pīpíng | |
| 90 | 签证 | qiānzhèng | |
| 91 | 千万 | qiānwàn | |
| 92 | 墙 | qiáng | |
| 93 | 社会 | shèhuì | |
| 94 | 申请 | shēnqǐng | |
| 95 | 生活 | shēnghuó | |
| 96 | 失望 | shīwàng | |
| 97 | 实在 | shízài | |
| 98 | 顺利 | shùnlì | |
| 99 | 提醒 | tíxǐng | |
| 100 | 提前 | tíqián | |
| 101 | 通知 | tōngzhī | |
| 102 | 同情 | tóngqíng | |
| 103 | 推迟 | tuīchí | |
| 104 | 往返 | wǎngfǎn | |
| 105 | 污染 | wūrǎn | |
| 106 | 羡慕 | xiànmù | |
| 107 | 消息 | xiāoxi | |
| 108 | 兴奋 | xīngfèn | |
| 109 | 性格 | xìnggé | |
| 110 | 严格 | yángé | |
| 111 | 邀请 | yāoqǐng | |
| 112 | 也许 | yěxǔ | |
| 113 | 原谅 | yuánliàng | |
| 114 | 阅读 | yuèdú | |
| 115 | 暂时 | zànshí | |
| 116 | 证明 | zhèngmíng | |
| 117 | 知识 | zhīshi | |
| 118 | 值得 | zhídé | |
| 119 | 只要 | zhǐyào | |
| 120 | 自信 | zìxìn | |
| 121 | 总结 | zǒngjié | |
| 122 | 尊重 | zūnzhòng |
How to Master HSK 4 Vocabulary
1. Read through the full word list first.
Don't try to memorize on the first pass. Scroll through the entire table. Which words do you already recognize? Which ones look completely unfamiliar? Get a sense of the terrain before you start climbing. Mark or note the words that seem hardest — those are the ones you'll spend the most time on.
2. Listen to every word's audio — twice.
Tap the 🔊 button for every word in this list, even the ones you think you know. First listen: just listen. Second listen: say the word out loud with the audio, matching the tone exactly. If your voice doesn't follow the same pitch contour, say it again. Tones are physical skills, not intellectual ones — your mouth needs practice, not your brain.
3. Read every example sentence out loud.
The example sentences aren't decoration. They show you how the word fits into a real Chinese sentence — what comes before it, what comes after it, what grammatical particles it needs. You can memorize that 会 means “can,” but you haven't learned it until you can recognize it in a sentence and produce it correctly in context. Read the Chinese sentence, then the pinyin, then the translation. Then read the Chinese again without looking at the pinyin.
4. Move to flashcards when you recognize ~60%.
You don't need to know every word before starting flashcards. Once about 60% of the words look familiar, switch to the HSK 4 flashcards. The act of guessing and checking — even when you're wrong — builds stronger memories than re-reading a table. Mark words honestly. The flashcard system cycles back words you mark “Still Learning,” so you get more repetitions on the hard ones and fewer on the easy ones.
5. Test yourself, then write the ones you miss.
Take the HSK 4 quiz. At the end, you'll see every question you got wrong. For each wrong answer, go to the Writing page and practice writing that character — watch the animation, then write it 10 times on paper. The combination of being wrong (which makes the answer more memorable), seeing the correct answer, and then writing the character creates three memory anchors for one word. It's dramatically more effective than just re-reading the table.
What Next?
You can discuss abstract topics, read simple news, and handle complex daily situations independently. HSK 5 takes you into professional Chinese: formal language, nuanced expression, and the kind of vocabulary used in newspapers and business meetings. At this point, vocabulary lists alone won't cut it — you need to read real Chinese content daily. Weibo, Zhihu, Bilibili comments. Start now if you haven't already.